Heel pain?

News-Times, The (Danbury, CT)

Published
7:00 pm EST, Thursday, March 17, 2005

This procedure has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration since November of 2000 and has been available in Connecticut for the past year. The procedure is an alternative to traditional heel spur surgery. The ultrasonic shocks trigger the body's repair mechanism in the fibrous membrane on the sole of the foot known as the plantar fascia. The shocks also overstimulate the nerves thereby blocking pain signals. The procedure can be performed in the office without anesthesia.

There is no need for cast or crutches and the procedure can be repeated

up to three times if necessary. There are many causes of chronic heel pain. The most common is caused by putting too much strain on the plantar fascia band, or the main ligament on the sole of the foot.

Conservative treatments can range from cortisone injections, custom orthotic devices, and changes in shoe gear to a more supportive shoe, stretching exercises and even cast immobilization if significant pain is present. If the patient has had more than four to six months of conservative treatment and is still having significant pain, such as pain with the first step in the morning and pain after rising after periods of rest, or pain after standing on their feet for more than one hour, then they may be a candidate for "Extracorporeal Shockwave

Therapy." In Europe this has successfully treated thousands of patients without complications. It is frequently used to treat the following common conditions: tendonitis of the shoulder, tennis elbow, tendonitis of the knee (Patellar tendonitis), tendonitis of the foot (Achilles tendonitis) and heel spur syndrome (Plantar fasciitis).

This technology has been present for more than 20 years and has been

used in the form of lithotripsy for treatment of kidney stones. The original machines that were used for lithotripsy often delivered relatively high energy shockwaves and were very painful and required general anesthesia to apply. It soon became apparent that treatment with lower energy shockwaves (much lower than those used to treat kidney stones) was effective in the treatment of musculoskeletal pain. In its current use for chronic heel pain, most physicians are seeing a 70 percent success rate. positive. There is no down time with this

procedure, and it offers a significant alternative to traditional surgery. So, if conservative treatment has failed, shockwave therapy may be the answer for your heel pain.

Dr. Patrick Fettinger is a board-certified foot surgeon. He can be reached at his office in New Fairfield at (203) 746-9660.

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